Adjustable and shiftable feed finger mechanism for tag marking machines



Feb. 19, 1952 F. L. RIEGER 2,586,563

ADJUSTABLE AND SHIF' TABLE FEED FINGER MECHANISM FOR TAG MARKINGMACHINES Filed July so, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 mans INVENTQR. 59'" T-4001M, Q0 Mv 13% A 770K115 ys Feb. 19, 1952 RIEGER 2,586,563 ADJUSTABLEAND SHIFTABLE FEED FINGER M EHANISM FOR TAG MARKING MACHINES Filed July30' 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 1N VEN TOR. 724M 0? BY Patented Feb. 19, 1952UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE AND SHIFTABLE FEED FIN- GERMECHANISM FOR 'TAG MARKING MACHINES App t n X 0. .S r NQ-...1 7 8 ;6Claims. (01. 271 2.5)

This invention relates to marking tag machines, and is directed inparticular to an improved feed finger mechanism and means for shifting.and adjusting this mechanism. The improved mechanism is particularlyadapted to be utilized in the feed finger carriages of marking machinesof the type disclosed by United States Letters Patent No. 2,328,934.

The above referred to'patent discloses a tag marking machine that isadapted to feed strips of gummed labels along one pathand strips ofstring tags or wire clip tags alonganother path.

These two paths are at right angles to one another and cross at a platenon which the labels and tags areprinted. The present improvementconcerns carriages of the type adapted to advance stripsof string andwire clip. tags, which, in the patented machine are fed along the latterpath.

A carriage of this type is disposed above the tag strips and is adaptedto reciprocate in timed sequence as part of the operating cycleof themachine. The strips areadvanced by a pair of spaced feed fingers thatare mounted in the bottom of the feed carriage. In the patented machine,the two feed fingers are required in order to advance the wire clip tag.strips against the drag provided by the clipsand theclipset-upmechanism. It has been found however, thatonly one feed fingermay beutilized for advancing string tags, this finger beingthe leadingone of the two.

The Spacing of thetwo fingers is fixed so that heretofore the machinehas been limited to operate on those tag strips which can be providedwith feed finger notchesspaced inaccordance with the spacing of the feedfingers. Since it'is characteristic of these tag strips that the feedfinger notches be placed between the tags, it follows that the width ofthe tags is dependent on the spacing vof thefeed finger. In the drawingsof the referred to patent, four tags are shown between the twofingers.Widentagscanrbe used so that only three'tags are betweenthe-fingers, ;ornarrower tags --can be. used .so that five are Que.- tween fingers.This, of course, ;;1i mits .rather critically the different sized .tagsthat .7 can be operated on by the machine. I

It is an object of the present invention to provide means for shiftingthe feed fingers whereby string tags of any size, within practicallimits, mav e e ihreli .thi type, mark e mesh ng W t th im r d.meshernm. i i o r r n h ng r mwire linie nperei on to any sized stringtagf operation or jto' gun med label operation by simply shiftingalconveniently' located lever.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for shifting thefeed fingers of a marking machine carriage, which means is so arrangedthat the setting of the shifting mechanism isnot disturbed bylongitudinal adjusting movement of the fingers relative to the carriage.The adjusting feature is rather important because it has been found thatthe setting of the fingers changes slightly over long periods of hardusage. The tag strips are of s uch form that it is critical'that they becut exactly between tags by the cut-off knife. Thus, since the tags arepositionedrelative to theknife by'the fingers, the fingersmust be setexactly.

rA furthe r object is to provide a shifting and adjusting mechanism forthe feed fingers that is adaptedto be fitted into-the small spaceavailable in a feed finger carriage.

In thepreferred embodiment of the invention, a shiftinglever is providedin a conveniently accessible place at the top of the feed fingercarriage. The feed'fingersaremounted in a carrier lqeated in theunderside of the carriage. This lever can be moved into three differentpositions. In one position, both feed fingers are lifted outofeng'agement with thestrip, in an intermediate position only the-=forwar d feed finger is in engagement, and in thethird position bothfeed fingers are in engagement with the strip. This lever isinterconnected-with a cam plate slidably mounted underneath the feedfinger carrier in such aposition that itcan engage thefeed fingers tochange their positions in response to movement of the lever. Althughthis assembly is mounted onthe carriage during adjustment, it moves withthe'feed finger carrier; and thus, when the position of the-feed fingercarrier is adjusted relative to the carriage, the'interconnectionbetween the adjusting lever and the cam plate is not disturbed.

Other objects;and advantages of the present invention will bereadily-apparent from the following deta-iled description of thedrawings in which:

Figure 1 is-;a top plan view showing theinvention in-theenvironm'ent of-a marking tag machine constructed in accordance with the teachings ofUnited States Patent No. 2,328,934. 7

Eigurez is a crosssectionalview-taken on line 2-2 ofEigure 1.

Figure 31s a fragmentary cross; sectional view of thefeed fingercarriage also-taken on linegZ-i of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is afragmentary view showing the bottom of thecarriage.

Figure 5 is a side elevation view of the feed finger carriage showingthe adjusting lever and the feed fingers in the three positions.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the feed finger carriage is indicatedgenerally at H), The details of the mounting of this carriage and themanner in which it is connected with the other driven parts of themachine are described in detail in the above referred to patent and willbe omitted here inasmuch as this invention is concerned only with thedetails of the mounting of the feed fingers. Two fingers are provided,the forward one being indicated by H and the rear one being indicated byl2. Both fingers are pivotally mountedon pins l3 which are journalled inthe side walls M of a channel-shaped carrier [5. In cross section, thecarrier is in the shape of an inverted U, see Figure 6, with the feedfingers being substantially as wide as the open part of the channel. Theends l6 of the two fingers are V- shaped so as to fit readily into thenotches provided in the tag strips, indicated by I! in Figure 1. In bothinstances coil springs l8 are provided between the tops of the fingersand the web portion I9 of the channel-shaped carrier so as to urge theends l6 of the fingers downwardly. The downward movement of the rearfeed finger is limited by an abutment 20 which in the lowermost positionof the finger engages against the web [3 of the carrier at a point tothe rear of the pivot pin l3. The lower limit of the forward feed fingerl I can be adjusted, however, by means of a flat head bolt 2| that isthreaded into a bore 22 cut through the carrier from the top and intothe side walls of the channeled portion of the carrier, with an enlargedbore concentric with the first bore being provided through the webportion IQ of the carrier to accommodate the large fiat head 23 of thebolt. An abutment 24 is provided at the rear end of the forward fingerfor engagement with the underside of the fiat head 23. Thus, by turningthe bolt into the bore 2], the forward end of finger II is raised. Thisadjustment is provided for initially setting the position of the feedfingers it when the machine is being assembled because, due to theconstruction of the machine disclosed, the forward feed finger mustclear the edge of the platen. The rear finger l2 rides on the tag stripguideway and does not have to be so limited.

Shifting of the feed fingers is accomplished by means of a cam plateindicated generally at 25. This plate is slidably mounted in pairs ofdove-- tail grooves, indicated at 26 and 21, and disposed near theforward and rearward ends respectively of the carriage. The forward edge28 of the cam plate is adapted to engage the underside of the forwardfeed finger H and raise it as the plate moves forward. The rear feedfinger l2 extends down through a slot 30 cut in the central part of thecam plate and is adapted to be raised by means of the rear edge 3|provided at the terminus of the slot 30. The two edges 28 and 3| thatprovide the cam action for raising the feed fingers are spaced apart insuch a way that as the cam plate moves from its rearmost position therear feed finger I2 is first lifted and then later the forward feedfinger H is lifted. Thus, three positions can be defined for the plate.In one position, both feed fingers are free of the cam edges and areurged downwardly by the springs l 8; in a second or intermediateposition, the rear feed finger I2 is raised while the forward feedfinger ll remains in the down position; and in the third position, bothfeed fingers are raised. It will be noted from Figure l that the sideedges of the cam plate are cut out as at 3232 for assembly purposes, theplate being slipped into place from the forwardmost position in whichthe cut out portions 32 correspond with the forward dovetail portions26. When in this position, the rear edge of the plate is in front of thedovetail sections 2l' and the plate can be fitted up into alignment withthe grooves provided in the dovetail slides, and then slid rearwardlyinto operating position.

Near the center of the cam plate a projection 33 extends from the sideand is turned up around the side of the feed finger carriage and splitas at 34 to provide a forked end 35, the fork extending up toward thetop of the carriage along the side thereof. The cam plate is moved bymeans of a shifting lever 36. This shifting lever is mounted on abracket 3'? by means of a stud 38. The inner end of the stud is rivetedto the bracket 31 as at 49, with the lever being pivotally mounted onthe shank 4! of the stud. The head 42 of the stud is larger than theshank portion and a coil spring 43, which surrounds the shank, is undertension between the head 42 and the lever. A detent 44 is struck fromthe inner face of the lever and is adapted to engage in each of threeholes 45 drilled through the bracket and corresponding in theirpositions to the three positions of the cam plate. At the lower end ofthe lever, a circular head 46 is provided, this head engaging betweenthe arms of the fork 35. Thus, it will be seen that as the lever isshifted the cam plate is moved with it. Above the lever mounting, thebracket is bent over at a right angle so that it is supported on the topof the feed finger carriage as at 41.

The feed finger carrier is held in place in the carriage by means of abolt 49. The bolt includes a smooth shank portion 50 and acounter-turned and threaded portion 5| at its lower end, thecounter-turning providing a shoulder 52. The bolt is tightened into athreaded bore 53 down into the carrier near the center between the twofingers until the shoulder 52 is snug against the top of the carrier.The shank portion 50 of the bolt above the shoulder 52 extends upwardlythrough a slot 54 cut through the carriage. The horizontal flangeportion of the bracket 31 is also transversed by the shank portion 50 ofthe bolt through a snug fitting bore provided in this part of thebracket so that the bracket is in a fixed position relative to thecarrier. The carrier assembly is held in place by the action of a coilspring 55 which is engaged around the shank 50 of the bolt and is undercompression between the head 56 of the bolt and a fiber washe 57 engagedaround the shank and lying on top of the horizontal portion ofthebracket.

At the rear edge of the carrier a projection 58 is provided, thisprojection extending beyond the rearward end of the carriage. The upperface of the projection is slotted transversely as at to, thisslotembracing the periphery of the large fiat head of a thumb screw 6|. Thethumb screw is threaded into the end of the carriage as at 62 so thatwhen the screw is tightened into the carriage the carrier is movedinwardly, thus adjusting the positions of the feed fingers relative tothe carriage. It will be noted, however, that the adjustment movementmoves both the carriage and the bolt 49 on which the bracket 31 ismounted so that both the carrier and the shifting lever are movedtogether. Therefore, the relative poapaozcaa "sitions -of the braeketshifting *leverycamiplate,

and 1 carrier remain unchanged during "aid iustmerit-ofthe-feed"ifingers.

' order-totake up' for a-ny looseness thatmightoccurthrough-wear"between the" head'ofthe *adjusting-screw 6 l andtheslot tfl 'cut' in thecarrier, a' spring 6fis provideii. -Th'isspring'is seatedin a slot 65 cut in the sidewall of' thecarri'age and adaptedto engage againstapin't' li set in "the side wall of the-"carrier.Thespring, thereforeytends to urge thecarrierto "the-right, as shown in-Figure' ;maintaining'constantengagement between the-abutting screw headandtheslot. This spring 64' is "held in the slot "by the indicator plate-61 which is bolted tothe side of 'the carriage and extends titowa'rdthe*front 0f the 'marking machine. 'This iri'dicator' plate i's'bentdownwardly as a't 68 and "isprovidedwith' appropriate indicia inthreesectionscorresponding to'the'three positions'o'f "the shiftinglever; see Figure' 1. -"Clear- 'ance-is providedatfllfor'itheshifting'l'ever-ewhere it extends upwardly above th'eindicatorplate.

' ,sIn "the operation *of a :marking machine to which =the presentinverition is applicable, the carriage is interconnected :with the otherdriven parts *of the machine ands-adapted to "reciprocate once duringeach complete 'cycle of the machine. During 'onercycle, "the strip isadvanced a distance equal to the space between two feed fingernotchesfthe tagon'the printed platen is impressed by the sprinting:head, and ==the last printed tag severed from the strip. When theshifting lever .isin-theintermediate position for string tag operation,that is, when the rear feed finger of-the two is raised -"ai'id' onlythe forward feed finger is in a position toengage the strip, it will beseen that the widest tag that can be operated on by the feed mechanismis one in which the feed finger notches arespaced apart a distance equalto the reciprocating travel of the carriage. In tags that are less widethan the travel distance of the carriage, during the retractingmovement, the V-shape of the forward feed finger permits it to ride overthe notch that is to be next engaged. On the next advancin movement ofthe carriage the spring urges the tip of the finger into the notch whenit is advanced to it. It will be noted, therefore, that the narroweststring tag that can be operated on by the present carriage mechanism isone that is is just slightly wider, by the width of a feed finger notch,than one-half of the carriage travel. Thus, the tags may be provided inany size between'the full travel distance of the carriage andapproximately one-half the travel distance of the carriage, the tagwidths not being limited as in the past.

When the carriage is operating on wire clip tag strips or any strip inwhich the fastening means for the tags provides a great deal of drag,the lever is thrown to the left, as shown in the dot-dash lines inFigure 5, where the cam edges 28 and 3| are out of engagement with therespective fingers and both fingers are down for engagement as shown inFigure 3. When the lever is moved to the right as shown by the dottedlines in Figure 5, both the fingers are lifted. In this position, thestrips of tags may be withdrawn from the machine and in the patentedmachine referred to above, the forward feed finger is lifted to clearthe feed path-way of the gummed labels which move across the printingplaten at right angles to the finger.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. Means for selectively raising the feed fingers 6 elfa: markingma'chi-ne -carriage in which a pair of fingers'ispivotally journalledin'--'a-:carrier-- in mounting F the-carrier in the' carriage, =and withadjustmentmeans-*being provided for-"positioning the carrier relativetothe -carria'ge,-=-'aiid'-*with the fingersbeingnonnallwspring urgedintop'o' sitions forengagemefit with a strip of 'tags -disposed beneaththecarriage comprising: a cam plateslidablymountedin said carrierbeneatlf the pivots --of said fingers; said "-plate --having *twofinger-engagingedges sp'acedapart less than the spacing "of sa-idfingers-"whereby=-said edges are adapted to en'gagesaidfingersonea'fter'the other when the'-'plate --is moved "longitudinally of-" thecarrier toward theleaiding finger and thereby raise the fingerspne'aften-the other out "0'f en gagementwith the strip; abracket-*carried-"by said'carrier' mounting =means and 'support'ed bysaid carriagegalever pivotally rnounted-'-on'-,said bracket" andextending 'above *said carriage" at its upper end' and havingme'a'ns 'atits lower end for engaging withsaid'cam p1a'te;-whereby movement of saidlever moves'saidcam;plateyafld -detent meansprovidedt for said lever inthreepositions of the lever corresponding respectively to positions ofthe-'plate in which, tone, "bot-h"fingers are in contact with *thestrips, two, the "rear finger is lifted,"and three, both'fingersareii'fted.

2. Shifting mechanismfor-selectivelyraising the feed'fingers of amarking machine carriage'in which a pair ,of' fingers is" pivotallyjournalled in a carrier in spaced relationshipfwith meansfor slidablymounting thecarrierin' the. c'arriagerand with adjustment meansbeingprovidwforpo'sitioning the carrier 'wi'threspect' tothe carriage,and with the fingers being normally spring-urged into positions forengagement with a strip of tags disposed beneath the carriagecomprising; a cam plate slidably mounted in the carrier beneath thelevel of the pivots of the fingers, said plate having twofinger-engaging edges spaced apart less than the spacing of the fingers,and means for moving said plate whereby the edges contact the respectivefingers one after the other and thereby raise them one after the other,said means being associated with said carrier mounting means and adaptedto move therewith during adjustment of the carrier.

3. Shifting mechanism for selectively raising the feed fingers of amarking machine carriage in which a pair of fingers is pivotallyjournalled in a carrier in spaced relationship, with means for slidablymounting the carrier in the carriage, and with adjustment means beingprovided for positioning the carrier with respect to the carriage, andwith the fingers being normally springurged into positions forengagement with a strip of tags disposed beneath the carriagecomprising;

a cam plate slidably mounted in the carrier, said plate having twofinger-engaging edges spaced apart less than the spacing of the fingersand adapted to engage the respective fingers one after the otherwhensaid plate is moved toward the leading finger and thereby raise thefingers one after the other, a bracket carried by said carrier mountingmeans and supported by said carriage, and a shifting lever pivotallymounted on said bracket and adapted to engage with said cam plate.

- 4. Shifting mechanism for selectively raising the feed fingers of amarkingmachine carriage in which a pair of fingers is pivotallyjournalled in a carrier in spaced relationship, with means for slidablymounting the carrier in the carriage, v

and with adjustment means being provided for positioning the carrierwith respect to the carriage, and with the fingers being normallyspringurged into positions for engagement with a strip of tags disposedbeneath the carriage comprising; a cam plate slidably mounted in thecarrier and adapted to be moved longitudinally thereof, said plateincluding finger engaging edges spaced apart so as to engage the fingersone after the other and thereby raise them one after the other uponlongitudinal movement of the cam plate in one direction and release saidfingers one after the other upon longitudinal movement in the oppositedirection, a bracket coupled with said carrier mounting means andsupported by said carriage, a shifting lever pivotally mounted on saidbracket with the upper end of the lever extending above the carriage andthe lower end engaged with the cam plate, and detent means provided forsaid lever in three: positions of the lever correspondingrespectively'to positions of the camplate in which, one, both fingersare in contact with the strip, two, one finger is lifted, and three,both fingers are lifted.

5. Shifting mechanism for selectively raising the feed fingers of amarking machine carriage in which a pair of fingers is pivotallyjournalled in a carrier in spaced relationship, with means for slidablymounting the carrier in the carriage, and with adjustment means beingprovided for positioning the carrier with respect to the carriage, andwith the fingers being normally springurged into positions forengagement with a strip of tags disposed beneath the carriagecomprising; means slidably mounted in the carrier and including camsurfaces adapted to engage and lift the respective feed. fingers oneafter the other upon longitudinal movement of the means relative to thecarrier, a bracket coupled with said carrier mounting means andsupported by the carriage, and a shifting lever pivotally mounted on thebracket and engaged with the said lifting means, whereby movement of thelever moves said means relative to the carrier.

6. Shifting mechanism for selectively raising the feed fingers of amarking machine carriage V in which a pair of fingers is pivotallyjournalled in a carrier in spaced relationship, with means for slidablymounting the carrier in the carriage, and with adjustment means beingprovided for positioning the carrier with'respect to the carriage, andwith the fingers being normally springurged into positions forengagement with a strip of tags disposed beneath the carriagecomprising; cam means longitudinally slidably mounted in the carrier,said cam means including finger engaging edges spaced apart so as toengage and lift the feed fingers one after the other upon longitudinalmovement of the cam means relative to the carrier, and shifting meansfor moving said cam means, the latter means being associated with saidcarrier mounting means and adapted to move therewith during adjustmentof the carrier.

FREDERIC L. RIEGER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Turner Sept. '7, 1943Number

